A masked doctor leans down into a black plastic body bag, and gently manipulates the legs of the man inside. “First we determine age, sex and length,” he explains.
“He’s in the putrefaction stage now, because of the water.”
In a hospital car park in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, the final details of one of its many victims are being carefully checked and logged.
This is now one of the most vital jobs here, and one of the most distressing. The man is unrecognisable after spending a week in the sea. His body washed ashore that morning.
Expert hands gently probe for identifying marks, and a DNA swab is taken. That’s important, in case there’s a family still alive to claim him.
Libya’s internationally recognised government says more than a quarter of the buildings in Derna were damaged or destroyed by last week’s catastrophic flood.
More than 10,000 people remain officially missing, according to figures from the UN’s Office for the Co-Ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Red Crescent has been issuing its own numbers.
The UN says the death toll so far stands at some 11,300. The final total remains unclear – although the one thing that is certain is the sheer scale of this catastrophe.
Source: bbc.com
